Senate Competitive Caucus

Floor Speech

Mr. COONS. Mr. President, the hallmark of our Nation's economy has
long been the ability of anyone with creativity, ambition, and a good
work ethic to realize their dreams and move America forward. From the
lightbulb to the iPhone, the legacy of American invention has shone
brightly throughout the world. Yet while our culture of innovation and
entrepreneurial spirit remain strong, the policy framework that
empowers that spirit to flourish is losing its competitive edge.

For years, enabling our Nation's innovative drive was an economic
system unparalleled around the world--from competitive tax laws to
public investments in research, infrastructure, and education. We have
long understood something that many other countries haven't: for
innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive, we need a strong,
competitive economic ecosystem. There simply is no single silver bullet
for economic growth.

While other nations catch up, our system is deteriorating in a number
of ways. Federal investments in basic research and development are not
keeping up with inflation and our tax code remains riddled with
complexity, unable to spur growth and provide the certainty our
businesses need. We also have to address the tough questions about how
to fund our infrastructure, transportation, and education systems. In
our dynamic market economy, the natural churn of businesses opening and
closing keeps our Nation competitive, as long as we are creating more
businesses than we are closing, of course. According to the Census
Bureau, however, U.S. businesses are now failing faster than they are
being created for the first time in 35 years--since the data began
being recorded. Meanwhile, the 2014 Global Innovation Index saw the
U.S. innovation ecosystem fall to 6th, while ranking 39th in ease of
starting a business. These declines are coupled to a global R
forecast that projects leading competitors--like China--will surpass
the U.S. in total R investment by 2022.

Yet even with these challenges, we do retain a competitive edge.
Americans' entrepreneurial drive still spurs our economy; manufacturing
output continues to increase; our colleges and universities remain the
envy of the world; innovations in the American energy industry have
reduced our trade deficit and improved our energy security; and private
sector R has rebounded after several years of stagnation.

We now find ourselves at a competitive inflection point. We can
either do more to nurture and take advantage of our strengths--only
some of which we have mentioned--or we can fall behind in the 21st
century. In order to support our competitive strengths, Senator Jerry
Moran and I are launching the bipartisan Senate Competitiveness Caucus,
a forum to bring together Democrats and Republicans to address the most
pressing issues facing our economy.

Rather than focus on just one issue or one bill, we have built the
caucus with the understanding that it will take a whole range of
policies working in concert to sustain our innovation ecosystem.

We will pursue ways to invest in our roads, bridges, ports, and
highways so they meet the needs of a 21st century economy. We will work
to make our tax code more competitive so the United States will remain
the best country in which to do business and raise a family. We will
seek to streamline regulations to protect consumers and make it easier
to start and grow a business. We will look at our Federal budget and
focus Federal resources on pro-growth policies that will create an
environment for job creation now and into the future. We will work
together to boost manufacturing because no country can support a strong
middle class without a thriving manufacturing sector. That is just a
start.

If the last century has taught us anything, it is that other
countries will not slow down when it comes to chasing America's
economic success. That means that even though the United States remains
a world leader in innovation and competitiveness, it will only become
more difficult to retain that position as the years go by. Members of
the Competitiveness Caucus understand that we are now competing with
every country, every government, every worker, and every business on
the planet. Congress must come together to turn our economic challenges
into opportunities for growth.

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